National Theatre at Home 4+

I am a theatre pro’ now living with Progressive MS in a care home. This gives me a reason to feel motivated as I try writing and living the world I’m passionate about. “No Man’s Land” left me speechless as a story so well told. I was there. They didn’t need me, but I was captivated and entwined in their world.

“Consent” was an excruciatingly difficult play to watch in some ways, combined with a mindless, non-reflective life style, it was astonishing. Perfectly cast and paced.

I’ve just watched what I think was called “England is Dead”. Breath-taking. An astonishing piece of theatre. I’ve never seen the likes. The circle of protection around the family so they can get on but he is protected from them had me in tears. He’d begun to make the disparate pieces fit Together. Plenty of space still but the rigidity is broken. I felt bereft when the character left the stage. I wanted to know what happened next. Stratospheric acting.

NT at Home has, for me, the best live theatre subscription content out there. It has really impressed me. Before I took a look at the catalogue, I assumed there would be a paltry selection of their oldest, least popular productions — I was presumptuous in my assumption. The selection is plentiful with a mixture of old, new, popular, and obscure productions. I have rewatched productions I saw in the theatre; productions I wanted to see but didn’t get to; productions I probably never would’ve watched otherwise (usually to my pleasant surprise). I love this app dearly. The subscription is well-priced too, in my opinion.

Obviously nothing can compare to seeing a production in person, but this is a wonderful alternative. It offers flawless closed captions on everything I’ve watched too, which is essential for me. Only thing I really take issue with is that there’s is no way to pick up where you left off if you don’t finish watching a production in one sitting. And for me, the search bar is pretty inept at locating anything. (Don’t know if this is just my device?) It’s a bit of a nuisance having to manually browse through the entire catalogue to find the production you were watching, and then having to remember exactly where you left it at. There’s are my only grievances with an otherwise wonderful and exciting app.

OMG, I just love love love NT at Home. I have come to the arts, especially theatre, late in life. But it’s never too late, and the on-demand memberships of the NT is just the most perfect way to immerse yourself in theatre. Accessing the wonderful plays in your own time is such a joy. And having such close proximity to the talent too because the filming is a masterful blend of being in the theatre but having some close-ups and angles you don’t have when sitting in theatre for real. Ok being at the theatre is much better, but I must have watched a dozen plays so far on the platform, and this coupled with going to the NT occasionally (just seen Dear England which is amazing) is simply perfect. The membership gives me good access to tickets. Friends love watching a play with us on-demand or in theatre. The experience is so complimentary. Thank you NT.